Lillian Pulitzer Rousseau (November 10, 1931 – April 7, 2013) was an American entrepreneur, fashion designer, and socialite. She founded Lilly Pulitzer, Inc., which produces floral print clothing and other wares.
Career
Lilly and husband Herbert Pulitzer settled in
Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...
, shortly after their marriage. They owned several
Florida
Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...
orange groves and, with produce from these, she opened a fruit juice stand on
Via Mizner in Palm Beach. While working at the stand, Pulitzer found that squeezing juice made a mess of her clothes, and asked her dressmaker to design a dress that would camouflage the stains. She discovered that customers loved it, so she produced more to sell at her juice stand. Eventually, she was selling more dresses than juice, and decided to focus on designing and selling what had become known as her "Lillys".
In 1959, Pulitzer became president of her own company, Lilly Pulitzer, Inc. The company's main factory was in Miami, Florida, and the fabrics were produced by the Key West Hand Print Fabrics company in
Key West
Key West is an island in the Straits of Florida, at the southern end of the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it con ...
.
Over 85% of Pulitzer's prints were designed by
Suzie Zuzek, the designer for Key West Hand Prints.
From the 1960s to the early 1980s, Pulitzer's bright, colorful clothes were very popular, worn by people such as former classmate
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis
Jacqueline Lee Kennedy Onassis ( ; July 28, 1929 – May 19, 1994) was an American writer, book editor, and socialite who served as the first lady of the United States from 1961 to 1963, as the wife of President John F. Kennedy. A popular f ...
and her daughter
Caroline Kennedy
Caroline Bouvier Kennedy (born November 27, 1957) is an American author, diplomat, and attorney who served as the List of ambassadors of the United States to Australia, United States ambassador to Australia from 2022 to 2024. She previously serv ...
; and members of the
Rockefeller,
Vanderbilt and
Whitney families.
After Jackie was featured in ''
Life
Life, also known as biota, refers to matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes. It is defined descriptively by the capacity for homeostasis, Structure#Biological, organisation, met ...
'' wearing one of Lilly's shifts, many preppy ladies followed her lead. The Jacqueline dress is one of Lilly Pulitzer's most successful styles. Lilly later stated that the first shift dress Jackie was photographed in was made of kitchen curtains. By 1984, Lilly closed down the entire clothing operation.
Revival of the brand
In 1993, the rights to the brand were purchased by Sugartown Worldwide, Inc. They contacted Pulitzer with the hopes of reviving the brand because "they just loved Lilly, their mothers and sisters loved Lilly, and they wanted to bring the line back", Pulitzer said.
Today, the company maintains 75 Lilly Pulitzer Signature Stores (also known as Via Shops).
The brand, carried by 23 company-owned retail stores, also sells to independently owned shops and major department stores, such as
Belk
Belk, Inc. is an American department store chain founded in 1888 by William Henry Belk in Monroe, North Carolina, with nearly 300 locations in 16 states. Belk stores and Belk.com offer apparel, shoes, accessories, cosmetics, home furnishings, a ...
,
Lord and Taylor
Lord & Taylor was an American department store chain founded in 1826 by Samuel Lord. It had 86 full-line stores in the Northeastern United States at its peak in the 2000s, and 38 locations at the time of its liquidation in 2021. The Lord & Taylo ...
,
Nordstrom
Nordstrom, Inc. () is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain headquartered in Seattle, Washington, and founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin in 1901. The original store operated exclusively as a shoe store, and a seco ...
,
Saks Fifth Avenue
Saks Fifth Avenue (Colloquialism, colloquially Saks) is an American Luxury goods, luxury department store chain founded in 1867 by Andrew Saks. The first store opened in the F Street and 7th Street shopping districts, F Street shopping distric ...
, and
Neiman Marcus
Neiman Marcus is an American department store chain founded in 1907 in Dallas, Texas by Herbert Marcus, his sister Carrie Marcus Neiman, and her husband Abraham Lincoln Neiman. It has been owned by Saks Global, a Corporate spin-off, spin-o ...
. On December 21, 2010, Sugartown Worldwide, Inc. was purchased by
Oxford Industries, Inc.
In April 2015,
Target
Target may refer to:
Warfare and shooting
* Shooting target, used in marksmanship training and various shooting sports
** Bullseye (target), the goal one for which one aims in many of these sports
** Aiming point, in field artille ...
announced a collaboration with Lilly Pulitzer. Within hours, the collection was almost entirely sold out, in stores and online.
Products

Along with women's clothing, the company also produces children's clothing, swim, shoes, jewelry, accessories, bedding (revived in 2010), and stationery. Lilly never wanted to produce clothing that was suited for the colder months. "It's always summer somewhere", she was quoted as saying. In accordance with Pulitzer's reported preferences, the dress was to be worn with bare feet and was lined, in order not to require underwear. The company launched an exclusive
Bridal Collection in 2010. With everything Lilly does she follows the motto "Everything is possible with sunshine and a little pink", which very accurately represents her fun and vibrant fabric designs.
To honor the original Lilly Pulitzer juice stand and store, the Worth Avenue store in Palm Beach holds exclusive and custom designs that can be created with a choice of print.
Pulitzer published a pair of lifestyle books—''Essentially Lilly: A Guide to Colorful Entertaining'' and ''Essentially Lilly: A Guide to Colorful Holidays''—with author Jay Mulvaney. She also released two desk calendar books, ''Essentially Lilly 2005 Social Butterfly Engagement Calendar'' and ''Essentially Lilly 2006 Party Animal Engagement Calendar''. She was known to make special collections with
sorority
In North America, fraternities and sororities ( and ) are social clubs at colleges and universities. They are sometimes collectively referred to as Greek life or Greek-letter organizations, as well as collegiate fraternities or collegiate sorori ...
prints on them. She has held contests on her
Facebook page
Facebook is a social-network service website launched on February 4, 2004, by Mark Zuckerberg. The following is a list of software and technology features that can be found on the Facebook website and mobile app and are available to users of ...
to vote on which sororities will get their own prints. In 2014, Lilly Pulitzer stopped the production of sorority printed items.
Personal life
In 1950, she eloped with Herbert (Peter) Pulitzer Jr., grandson of
Joseph Pulitzer
Joseph Pulitzer ( ; born , ; April 10, 1847 – October 29, 1911) was a Hungarian-American politician and a newspaper publisher of the ''St. Louis Post-Dispatch'' and the ''New York World''. He became a leading national figure in the U.S. Democ ...
(publisher after whom the
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prizes () are 23 annual awards given by Columbia University in New York City for achievements in the United States in "journalism, arts and letters". They were established in 1917 by the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made his fo ...
is named). The couple had three children: Peter, Minnie and Liza. In 1969, Lilly and Peter were divorced. She married Enrique Rousseau shortly thereafter. Although she legally changed her name to Lillian McKim Rousseau, her clothing company continued to operate under the "Lilly Pulitzer" label. She continued to reside in
Palm Beach, Florida
Palm Beach is an incorporated town in Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. Located on a barrier island in east-central Palm Beach County, the town is separated from West Palm Beach, Florida, West Palm Beach and Lake Worth Beach, Florida, ...
. Enrique Rousseau died of cancer in 1993.
[
]
Death
On April 7, 2013, aged 81, Pulitzer Rousseau died at her home in Palm Beach, Florida.
Cultural impact
Lisa Birnbach
Lisa R. Birnbach (born 1957/1958) is an author best known for co-authoring ''The Official Preppy Handbook'', which spent 38 weeks at number one on the ''New York Times'' best-seller list in 1980.
Early life and education
Birnbach was born to a A ...
's tongue-in-cheek guides, ''The Official Preppy Handbook
''The Official Preppy Handbook'' (1980) is a Satire, satirical reference guide edited by Lisa Birnbach and written by Jonathan Roberts (writer), Jonathan Roberts, Carol McD. Wallace, Mason Wiley, and Birnbach. It discusses an aspect of North Amer ...
'' and its sequel ''True Prep: It's a Whole New Old World'', feature Lilly Pulitzer clothing as must-have items for "preppy
Preppy (also spelled as preppie, or prep), is an American subculture associated with the alumni of college-preparatory schools in the Northeastern United States. The term, which is an abbreviation of "preparatory", is used to denote a person ...
" women.
The Museum of Lifestyle & Fashion History in Boynton Beach, Florida
Boynton Beach is a city in Palm Beach County, Florida, Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is situated about north of Miami. The 2020 United States census, 2020 census recorded a population of 80,380. Boynton Beach is located in the Mi ...
, ran an exhibit from August 2010 through May 2011 about the clothing and designs of Lilly Pulitzer. Museum director Lori Durante stated "Lilly Pulitzer fashion is relative to the American experience ... tis relevant to Palm Beach County, to Florida."
In 1966, ''The Washington Post
''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...
'' reported that the dresses were "so popular that at the Southampton Lilly shop on Job's Lane they are proudly put in clear plastic bags tied gaily with ribbons so that all the world may see the Lilly of your choice. It's like carrying your own racing colors or flying a yacht flag for identification."
Gallery
Lilly Pulitzer, NYC - Feb 2012.JPG
References
External links
Official website
Lilly Pulitzer Home at Garnet Hill
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pulitzer, Lilly
20th-century American designers
American socialites
Bostwick family
American businesspeople in fashion
Phipps family
People from Palm Beach, Florida
People from Roslyn, New York
Artists from New York City
Lilly
Re-established companies
1931 births
2013 deaths
Chapin School (Manhattan) alumni
Miss Porter's School alumni
Finch College alumni
1980s fashion
1970s fashion
1960s fashion
1950s fashion
20th-century American businesspeople
20th-century American businesswomen
American fashion designers